Museums in England

British Museum in London

English Heritage is a governmental body with a broad remit of managing the historic sites, artefacts and environments of England. It is currently sponsored by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport. The charity National Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty holds a contrasting role. Seventeen of the twenty-five United Kingdom UNESCO World Heritage Sites fall within England. Some of the best known of these include; Hadrian's Wall, Stonehenge, Avebury and Associated Sites, Tower of London, Jurassic Coast, Saltaire, Ironbridge Gorge, Studley Royal Park and various others. There are many museums in England, but the most notable of all is London's British Museum. Its collections, which number more than seven million objects, are amongst the largest and most comprehensive in the world and originate from all continents, illustrating and documenting the story of human culture from its beginning to the present. The British Library in London is the national library and is one of the world's largest research libraries, holding over 150 million items in all known languages and formats; including around 25 million books. The most senior art gallery is the National Gallery in Trafalgar Square, which houses a collection of over 2,300 paintings dating from the mid-13th century to 1900. The Tate galleries house the national collections of British and international modern art; they also host the famously controversial Turner Prize.

Museums in England

British Museum in London

English Heritage is a governmental body with a broad remit of managing the historic sites, artefacts and environments of England. It is currently sponsored by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport. The charity National Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty holds a contrasting role. Seventeen of the twenty-five United Kingdom UNESCO World Heritage Sites fall within England. Some of the best known of these include; Hadrian's Wall, Stonehenge, Avebury and Associated Sites, Tower of London, Jurassic Coast, Saltaire, Ironbridge Gorge, Studley Royal Park and various others. There are many museums in England, but the most notable of all is London's British Museum. Its collections, which number more than seven million objects, are amongst the largest and most comprehensive in the world and originate from all continents, illustrating and documenting the story of human culture from its beginning to the present. The British Library in London is the national library and is one of the world's largest research libraries, holding over 150 million items in all known languages and formats; including around 25 million books. The most senior art gallery is the National Gallery in Trafalgar Square, which houses a collection of over 2,300 paintings dating from the mid-13th century to 1900. The Tate galleries house the national collections of British and international modern art; they also host the famously controversial Turner Prize.

Music of England

	"Greensleeves" The Rolling Stones' "Paint It Black" The Beatles' "Get Back"
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The traditional folk music of England is centuries old and has contributed to several genres prominently; mostly sea shanties, jigs, hornpipes and dance music. It has its own distinct variations and regional peculiarities. Wynkyn de Worde printed ballads of Robin Hood from the 16th century are an important artefact, as are John Playford's The Dancing Master and Robert Harley's Roxburghe Ballads collections.^[177] Some of the best known songs are The Good Old Way, Pastime with Good Company, Maggie May and Spanish Ladies amongst others. Many nursery rhymes are of English origin such as Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, Roses are red, Jack and Jill, Here We Go Round the Mulberry Bush and Humpty Dumpty.^[178] Early English composers in classical music include Renaissance artists Thomas Tallis and William Byrd, followed up by Henry Purcell from the Baroque period. German-born George Frideric Handel became a British subject^[179] and spent most of his composing life in London, where he created some of the most well-known and frequently-performed works of classical music, The Messiah, Water Music, and Music for the Royal Fireworks. There was a revival in the profile of composers from England in the 20th century with Benjamin Britten, Frederick Delius, Edward Elgar, Gustav Holst, Ralph Vaughan Williams and others.^[180] Modern English composers include Michael Nyman, best known for his scores for films by Peter Greenaway and for The Piano.

In the field of popular music many English bands and solo artists have been cited as the most influential and best-selling musicians of all time. Acts such as The Beatles, Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, Elton John, Queen, Rod Stewart and The Rolling Stones are among the highest selling recording artists in the world.^[181] Many musical genres have origins or strong associations with England, such as British invasion, hard rock, glam rock, heavy metal, mod, britpop, drum and bass, progressive rock, punk rock, indie rock, gothic rock, shoegazing, acid house, UK garage, trip hop and dubstep. Large outdoor music festivals in the summer and autumn are popular, such as Glastonbury, V Festival, Reading and Leeds Festivals. The most prominent opera house in England is the Royal Opera House at Covent Gardens.^[183] A major cultural event held annually is The Proms, a season of orchestral classical music concerts held at the Royal Albert Hall.^[183]

Classical ballet in England is performed by of one of the world's foremost ballet companies, The Royal Ballet, its reputation built on two prominent figures of twentieth century dance, prima ballerina Margot Fonteyn and choreographer Frederick Ashton.

English literature

Geoffrey Chaucer was an English author, poet and philosopher, best remembered for his unfinished frame narrative The Canterbury Tales.

Early authors wrote in Latin such as Bede and Alcuin.^[170] While the period of Old English literature provided the epic poem Beowulf, along with Christian writings such as Judith, Cædmon's Hymn and saintly hagiographies.^[170] The best known secular prose is the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle. Following the Norman conquest Latin continued amongst the educated classes, as well as an Anglo-Norman literature. Middle English literature emerged with Geoffrey Chaucer author of The Canterbury Tales, along with Gower, the Pearl Poet and Langland. Franciscans, William of Ockham and Roger Bacon were major philosophers of the Middle Ages. Julian of Norwich with her Revelations of Divine Love was a prominent Christian mystic. With the English Renaissance literature in the Early Modern English style appeared. William Shakespeare, whose works include Hamlet, Romeo and Juliet, Macbeth, and A Midsummer Night's Dream, remains one of the most championed authors in English literature. Marlowe, Spenser, Sydney, Kyd, Donne, Jonson are other giants of the Elizabethan age.^[171] Francis Bacon and Thomas Hobbes wrote on empiricism and materialism, including scientific method and social contract.^[171] Filmer wrote on the Divine Right of Kings. Marvell was the best known poet of the Commonwealth, while John Milton authored Paradise Lost during the Restoration.

This royal throne of kings, this sceptred isle, this earth of majesty, this seat of Mars, this other Eden, demi-paradise; this fortress, built by nature for herself. This blessed plot, this earth, this realm, this England. —William Shakespeare.[172]

Some of the most prominent philosophers from the Enlightenment were Locke, Paine, Johnson and Benthem. More radical elements were later countered by Edmund Burke who is regarded as the founder of conservatism. The poet Alexander Pope with his satirical verse became well regarded. The English played a significant role in romanticism—Coleridge, Byron, Keats, M Shelley, PB Shelley, Blake and Wordsworth were major figures.^[173] In response to the Industrial revolution, agrarian writers looked to find a way between liberty and tradition; Cobbett, Chesterton and Belloc were main exponents, while founder of guild socialism, Penty and cooperative movement advocate Cole are somewhat related. Empiricism continued through Mill and Russell, while Williams was involved in analytics. Authors from around the time of the Victorian era include Dickens, Brontë sisters, Austen, Kipling, Wells, and Underhill.^[175] Since then England has continued to produce novelists such as C. S. Lewis, Orwell, Blyton, Christie, Tolkien author of The Lord of the Rings and JK Rowling author of Harry Potter.

Arts Council England

The Lady of Shalott by John William Waterhouse in the Pre-Raphaelite style.

The earliest known examples are the prehistoric rock and cave art pieces, most prominent in North Yorkshire, Northumberland and Cumbria, but also feature further south, for example at Creswell Crags.^[166] With the arrival of Roman culture in the 1st century, various forms of art utilising statues, busts, glasswork and mosaics were the norm. There are numerous surviving artefacts, such as those at Lullingstone and Aldborough.^[167] During the Early Middle Ages the style was sculpted crosses and ivories, manuscript painting, gold and enamel jewellery, demonstrating a love of intricate, interwoven designs. Some of these blended Gaelic and Anglian styles, such as the Lindisfarne Gospels and Vespasian Psalter.^[168] Later Gothic art was popular at Winchester and Canterbury, examples survive such as Benedictional of St. Æthelwold and Luttrell Psalter.^[169]

The Tudor era saw prominent artists as part of their court, portrait painting which would remain an enduring part of English art, was boosted by German Hans Holbein, natives such as Nicholas Hilliard built on this.^[169] Under the Stuarts, Continental artists were influential especially the Flemish, examples from the period include—Anthony van Dyck, Peter Lely, Godfrey Kneller and William Dobson.^[169] The 18th century was a time of significance with the founding of the Royal Academy, a classicism based on the High Renaissance prevailed—Thomas Gainsborough and Joshua Reynolds became two of England's most treasured artists.^[169] The Norwich School continued the landscape tradition, while the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood with their vivid and detailed style revived the Early Renaissance style—Holman Hunt, Dante Gabriel Rossetti and John Everett Millais were leaders.^[169] Prominent amongst twentieth century artists was Henry Moore, regarded as the voice of British sculpture, and of British modernism in general.